Fragments of Memory
by Squinoa17
Summary: All that's going on in Squall Leonhart's life... First fic, reviews and flames welcomed...
1. Clash of the Gunblades

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII is property of Squaresoft. No patent infringement is intended.

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Well this is my first fic, and my first trial in writing stuffs after reading fics for about a year or so. I'm a huge fan of Final Fantasy VIII & X, but right now I'm gonna try to write a full story about FFVIII prior to some other ideas I'm harboring in mind. Please review and state your opinion, they're much welcomed and appreciated.

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The moon shone over the field of greens, basking them in a blanket of tranquility, a usual night within the peaceful Balamb continent. The sun had yet shown its glorious rays, the skies filled with glittering stars, dotting the blank piece of dark canvas above.

Squall sat on his balcony, one leg propped up the railing and the other laying inside of it, balancing him from falling over. He had his eyes closed, taking in the cool midnight air that blew with serenity, calming the raging storm that had been taking over his mind for hours. He looked at his watch, showing the time to be 0315.

With years of mercenary training he managed to creep silently over his room, not wanting to wake his roommate Zell. Opening his gunblade case, he grabbed Revolver and exited the room, heading straight to Training Center.

As usual, Training Center showed no sign of life at this hour of the day, even the Grats that usually flock the green grassy areas retired to slumber in their warm comfy nests. A few came out to search for food, but before they can get a bit of those juicy Bite Bugs, they were sliced into two by a black sleek metal, not even having the time to acknowledge what cruel fate had befallen on them.

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Squall pushed open the metal gates, unconsciously scanning the area for any signs of danger, while preparing and warming up for unexpected battles. He proceeded to the far end of the Training Center, and there stood none other than Seifer Almasy, slicing up some Grats.

He's the only gunblader in Balamb Garden other than Squall, and his skill upon wielding Hyperion made him one of the best skilled fighters in Garden. Despite their resemblance in choice of weapons, he and Squall never got along together, being archrival as long as they both remembered. Yet his attitude and discipline problem was always in his way, preventing him from getting his SeeD title after failing for two years straight.

"You're late, Leonhart. Thought you're to busy hiding under your blankets crying and forgot our little meeting here." Seifer mocked in his usual arrogant tone, breaking the silence first, as Squall approached him from behind and sliced the last Grat in his line of sight.

"Whatever, are we going to finish this or what?" said Squall impatiently. He was quite nervous actually, but keeping a nonchalant expression like he used to, he seemed to be too at peace.

Irritated by this, without a word Seifer dashed towards him and spun his body, pulling out Hyperion and struck with great force, catching Squall unprepared, resulting in a desperate attempt of self-defense. He stumbled back a few steps, but quickly regained his balance and struck back with equal ferocity.

Blocking Squall's attack with ease, he thrust Hyperion with lightning speed a few times, Squall barely managed to ward them of and trying hard to defend and strike back. He retreated back a few steps, avoided the overhead slash and rained down series of blows on his nemesis.

Seifer had to use both his hands to hold Hyperion in front of him, cursing under his breath as pain shot up his arms from Squall's heavy blows. He quickly counter-attacked Squall's blow when he saw a gap in the blows, forcing Squall to backed off, allowing both of them to take a sip of well needed air before continuing their seemingly endless battle.

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It had been fifteen minutes, both men were not yet wounded, but quickly approaching physical limit. Both of them being stubborn, refusing to give in, pride and adrenaline pushing them on and on. They exchanged blows after blows of attack with no ends.

Seifer being the older and more experienced gunblader, and having the advantage of greater heights worn Squall down effectively. In desperation, Squall pulled out his limit break, Renzokuken. Seifer had anticipated this move and managed to step out of harms way, but not gone totally unscathed. His left arm barely escaped Revolver, and now bleeding profusely from a deep gash. He cursed out loudly this time, provoked by the injury and in the midst of fury unleashed his own limit break, Fire Cross.

Squall ran towards him ready to strike, but got struck down by the fire magic from Fire Cross. He managed to shun it off with Revolver, but now had lost his footing and fell on the ground. When he finally got up with his head pounding with pain, Seifer took the chance and loomed over him, ready to give the final strike, and the sound of the barrel going off is heard.

Hyperion slashed across Squall's face near the forehead, blood spilled on the battleground. Squall went into berserk, cutting the distance between him and Seifer in a flash, dragging Revolver along the dirt covered ground creating sparks of anger, slashing Revolver upwards towards Seifer…


	2. Fire Cavern

Birds were chirping merrily around Balamb Garden, signaling the start of a brand new day. From the window of one particular room, the outside scenery of the grassy field surrounding the Garden can be seen. The sun was way up in the sky, shining down its golden rays, not a cloud was in sight. However lively the outside world it, inside a room Squall was laying down on a bed in the Infirmary motionlessly, like a corpse awaiting dissection in an autopsy room.

It was almost noon when Squall started to stir in his bed and regained consciousness. A middle-aged women clad in a white uniform immediately came to him and did some regular basis check up, leaving Squall totally baffled to the unfamiliar surroundings. As he tried hard to remember what had happened, he scowled as pain erupted inside him skull, spreading through his body like a menacing poison.

"_Are you okay? You should take your training more easily. Next time you might not be so lucky."_ Doctor Kadowaki stated with an authoritive voice, while she was still searching for any more signs of injury or uneasiness from her patient.

"_You tell that to Seifer."_

"_That Seifer, won't listen to anyone. Why don't you just ignore him?"_

"_I can't just run away." _Squall said that matter-of-factly, for him running away from a challenge was just to damaging to his ego.

"_You wanna be cool huh? Well, don't get hurt in the process. Your eyes seem to be focusing. Tell me your name."_

Squall told her anything she needed to know quickly, hoping to be left alone to rest his pounding head. Soon Dr.Kadowaki left him alone and went to inform his instructor about his injury. However, his rest was short-lived, as he saw someone was looking at him from the tinted glass beside his bed. He knew he can't physically heard her from the other side of the glass, but there was a voice registering in his mind, while the woman in blue on the other side seemed to be saying something.

"Squall, so we meet again."

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The sound of the electronic door sliding came to his ears, followed by quick and light footsteps. A blond appeared in front of Squall's room, shaking her head slightly in disapproval when she saw Squall propping up himself form the bed. A few locks of hair framed her oval-shaped face, and her spectacles added to her air of professionalism. She was none other than the famous Quistis Trepe, on of the youngest Instructor in Balamb Garden that. Her popularity even earned her a fan club, the Trepies,

"_I knew it would be you or Seifer."_

"_Well come on, today is the field exam." _Quistis left, with Squall following her trying to clear his head of the constant headache.

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They passed through the walkway heading to the main building of Garden. Beside the walkway there was a small garden filled with people, who were taking a break and relaxing under the shady trees or wooden bench. Things seem quaint and peaceful, but with Squall and his foul mood around it was like having black ink drop on among a thousand smiling faces.

"_Squall, is there something on your mind?"_ she asked in hope to lighten things up a bit, but truthfully she was just in the mood to tease her student.

"_Not really."_ They both said in unison, and Quistis can't hold off the giggles that threatened to came out, quite amused by the fact that how predictable Squall was.

"_What's so funny?"_ murmured Squall as people around started watching his hysterical instructor almost doubling over in sheer laughter. Quistis regained her composure, and after taking a few breaths to calm herself she answered.

"_It's just that I think I'm beginning to understand my favourite student a little more, that's all."_ That remark caught his attention, as he stopped walking abruptly and turned around to face his instructor, with his usual nonchalant expression on his face.

"_I'm more complex than you think." _Quistis looked at him for a brief moment, thinking of a witty reply to give. _"Then why don't you tell me about it?"_

They continued to walk again, with Squall leaving Quistis's question hanging in the air. But she knew better, and waited for those words to come out of his lips…

"_It's none of your…_

"_Business."_ Again, Quistis mimic him without any flaws, already knew the answer he would give. _"Come on. We don't have all day you know."_

-----------------

Squall was heading towards the elevator, Quistis had ordered him to meet her so he could take the prerequisite exam in Fire Cavern. His mind seemed to be elsewhere, pondering between thoughts of his earlier sparring with Seifer and the exam he was going to take. Usually something as important as the prerequisite exam wouldn't have fleeted from his thought, but Seifer almost managed to screw this up for him by knocking him out for the whole morning. He didn't notice someone was rushing down the corner, until he bumped on someone, sending a young woman crashing down the hard walkway.

"_Ouch…"_ He immediately looked down at whoever that had stumbled upon him, and offered a hand to help her up.

"_Are you ok?"_

"_There there… Tee-hee… I'm fine. Sorry, I was kinda in a hurry. Di you came out from that class room?" _Squall nodded.

"_Is… is homeroom over?" _Squall nodded again, and her expression turned into one of disappointments.

"_Sigh, this Garden is so much bigger than my last Garden. I'm just transferred here from Trabia Garden. Hey, do you think you can show me around?"_

Squall pondered a while of her request, trying to come out with a good excuse to get him out of this, he hate for Quistis to wait for him all in the Front Gate for long. But with the petite little girl staring him with puppy dog eyes, he thought that he might as got through this fast enough…

"_Sure."_

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They set out towards Fire Cavern, drawing some magic to be junctioned like what Quistis had instructed him to. Upon arrival, they were halted by two Garden Faculty at the entrace of Fire Cavern.

"To obtain low-level GF, a SeeD member must support. Are you ready?"

Squall rose up his left hand and stood in attention post, giving them an official Garden salute.

"I'm ready."

"I'm his support. Instructor No.14 Quistis Trepe."

"Select a time-limit suited to your abilities. Challenging yet reasonable."

Squall chosen the least time, 10 minutes, as he was very confident because he once studied about the GF living inside the cavern. After rechecking their junctions, both of them entered the cave entrance.

They were greeted with a pungent smell of burning, lava was flowing freely and the whole place seemed to glow in red. There was only one path heading towards the end of the cave, which was narrow, causing both of them to watch their steps with care. One wrong step could mean falling into the sizzling hot lava.

"_My job is to support you, everything else is up to you Squall." _Quistis explained as they walked deeper into Fire Cavern.

"_Fine."_

"_You know, the boys often choke when I come with them. I guess my charm makes them nervous."_

'_Whatever.'_ Squall turned around and raised his eyebrow in annoyance, but managed to keep his remark to his own, deciding that nothing could would come out of it.

"_I'm just joking, trying to get you relaxed that's all."_

They went further into the cave in silence, keeping their eyes on the tracks again.

"_I guess I am right. You and Seifer are in a class of your own. Both of you have amazing strength and potential. This is it. You ready?"_

Squall gave a nod, both of them waiting at the mouth of a fiery pit, waiting to confront the Fire God, Ifrit.

"_You seemed confident enough."_

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Ifrit appeared soon enough, both Squall and Quistis got ready in their battle stance. He was very strong, his large claws were damaging and depleted their HP in a fast rate. Squall concentrated on summoning the Ice Goddess Shiva, while Quistis help fend Ifrit off and distract the intimidating GF.

"_Diamond Dust!"_

A beautiful looking goddess appeared, encased in a large shard of ice. As her eyes fluttered open, her ice prison exploded, and she lifted her arms out, white glowing energy forming a sphere on her palms. She throwed the ball towards Ifrit, immediately a pathway of ice formed itself inside the cavern, and broke producing tiny shards of ice flying around Ifrit. Shiva delighted in the pain she delivered, retreated to the recesses of mind of her master.

Ifrit writhed in pain, and cursed out loudly, a slight tint of fear surfacing in his deep baritone voice.

"_They have Shiva?"_

This doesn't stop both Squall and Quistis to continue lashing out on the GF, while he was trying to recover from the initial shock from Shiva's attack. He grunted loudly, and with pure rage coursing through his whole body he leaped up high in the air, diving down at blinding speed towards Squall, who didn't saw Ifrit coming as he was busy summoning Shiva again.

"_Impudent humans!"_

With that Ifrit stroked down his claws, but Squall was unharmed. Quistis stood in front him, and the claws formed a big bruised on her left arm. Shiva was summoned, giving time for the Instructor to take a short well-needed breath and see to her wounds.

"_Not bad for a human…"_ Ifrit said amazed by Quistis, as not many people could withstand his furious attack. But Quistis HP was alarmingly low, reaching the critical level.

Concentrating on all her anguish and pain, Quistis stood up after a while, and pulled out her Limit Break, Blue Magic. Her eyes glowed in an eerily golden glow, making her seemed ethereal with air rushing through them in ferocious speed, responding to the high magic energy within Quistis body.

"_Laser Eyes!"_

Two rays of laser came out of her eyes, and hit Ifrit directly on his body, sending him down with pain and agony. After a long while he stood up warily, eyes downcast as he knew he was defeated.

"_For me to lose to you human… Fine, I'll join you."_

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A/N : Thanks for all of you guys out there who read this fic, especially Fightingcomet & xoxTheAngelFromMyNightmarexox who were my first reviewers, I appreciated it. Don't stop reviewing please, hope to see some of your fics if you both decided to write some soon.


	3. Squad B

Squall was walking down the hallway, looking for his instructor. Lots of cadets were around, everyone fussing about the upcoming field exam that was going to be held later in the evening. Just as Squall passed the Library, his instructor waved at him, mentioning him to come near the directory.

"_Squall, over here. I'll be announcing the squad assignments for the field exam now. Let's see which group are you assigned to now…"_

Quistis ran through her notepad while adjusting her specs briefly, and then putting her notepad down once she found what she was looking for.

" _You're in Squad B. You will team up with Zell Dincht, quite a lively fellow."_

"_Lively? He's just loud, can't I switch members?" _Squall said with a scowl surfacing his face, with no intention to hide his agitation._  
_

"_No, I'm afraid it can't be done. Zell, come over here."_

A spike haired blond steps into the sight, throwing punches into the air while doing some supposedly cool acrobatic moves. A very distinctive tattoo mark over his left eye stood out from his features, some sort of complex intricate marking, flowing down his sharp face with elegance. The acrobat ended with a final somersault, and he grinned ear to ear, not even breaking a sweat.

"_Whoa, I'm with you?"_

He rubbed his hand on his pants and reached out to shake with Squall, but Squall totally ignored him, shaking hands was just something he disliked. Zell pulled his hand back when Squall seemed oblivious to his gesture, opting only to greet his silent comrade.

"_You don't get along with Seifer, do you? Heard he whopped you pretty bad this morning."_

"_We weren't fighting, we were sparring."_

"_I bet he doesn't thought like that Look, he's just being a pain in the ass. All you have to do is just ignore him"_

"_It's none of your…" _Squall was really annoyed, and was using all his self-discipline to not beat the crap out of this busybody.

"_Business."_ Quistis interrupted their talk, while trying to conceal the growing laughter that threatened to blow out any moment now.

"_Ahem…Excuse me, but that Seifer you're talking about, he's your squad leader."_

"_SAY WHAT?"_

Both Squall and Zell chorused, bewildered at what fate had cruelly set them upon. It's like having a gunblade stabbed through their gut, then bring turned around just to watch their face drained of all colours as the words sunk in to their mind like, the injustice of their fate truly dawned on them.

Seifer finally walked into the picture, with Fujin and Raijin tagging along, as usual. Clad in his usual trench coat, he wore a blue shirt marked with a white cross underneath it. His Hyperion was fastened on his belt, shimmering with a cold wicked gleam as the light was reflected from it. He was like always, a cocky, arrogant smile plastered all over his face.

"_Seifer, you're the squad leader of Squad B. Good luck to you."_

"_Instructor, I hate it when people wish me luck. Save it for those bad students who need them."_

"_Okay then Seifer. Good luck to you."_

Seifer's cocky expression was quickly replaced by a scowl, being taken aback and offended by his instructor's witty remarks.

"_Well then, all of you will be assigned in Squad B. I will be the instructor of the Squad. Teamwork is the utmost important factor. Let's make this happen."_

"_Listen up, teamwork means stay out of my way. It's a Squad B rule. Don't forget it."_

With that Seifer spun around and headed to the Car Park, with the other trailing behind.

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The silence engulfed the little space confining all four of them, except for the steady humming sound vibrating from the engine of the vehicle. He could feel his entire body screaming for something to do, each of them being restless doing nothing for about eternity. Actually it had only been fifteen minutes, but that for a hyperactive being is one of the cruelest tortures on could think of.

"_Show me your gunblade will ya?"_

Zell finally shattered the silence and everyone on the vehicle turn their attention to him, except for one. Squall still remained his posture, his hands covering his face, his eyes seemed distant as if his mind was wandering the green plains in Balamb. He seemed oblivious to the demand stated towards him, if he did he wasn't going to give Zell a respond, wanting to be left alone in his own little mind again.

"_Can you please let me see your gunblade?"_ No response.

"_Come on, just a little peek."_ Squall didn't even move a bit.

"_Fine then, scrooge… What's on you mind anyway?"_ Zell finally gave up, seeing how his futile attempt crumbled before deaf ears.

Squall seemed to be seriously pondering for an excuse, but actually the answer already formed itself in the back of his mind, one of his universal solution to all the questions pointed towards him.

"_Nothing."_

The moment the words rolled out of his tongue, Quistis resonated with his with precise accuracy, well after all she did spend a bit chunk of her time to understand her favourite student. That is if understand means observing from distant when Squall was training alone in the Training Center, or stealing glances of him during class trying to figure out what was he doing at the mean time. Yes, Quistis Trepe had a crush on Squall for a few years now, but she hid it well, even the Trepies, her own personal fan club that stalked her to no ends didn't seemed to notice this dark secret she hid so deep in the recesses of her mind.

Unable to eased his mind of the boredom, Zell started shadow boxing in that crampy little space, the 'clink' sound of his foot come in contact with metallic floor heard throughout the compartment. Seifer watched this and cocked one of his eyebrows, deciding to find a little pleasure in this seemingly long, boring drive.

"_Stop that, it's annoying… Chicken-wuss."_ He laughed out mockingly as Zell turned into shades of red in anger, while fuming and tried hard to figure out something to throw back into Seifer's face.

"_What did you call me!"_

"_Knock it off, both of you. This is an important exam for all of you. Now behave yourself!"_

Quistis was tired of their mindless arguments, which only added much worry to her whether her team was going to make it through the exam. Everyone fell silent immediately, not wanting trouble before their exam.

"_Instructor, who was the girl outside of the infirmary this morning?"_ Squall surprisingly trying to engage in some sort of communication with other people, which is something quite rare to be found.

"_Was there someone outside? I'm not aware of anyone else near the infirmary."_

Hearing this, a smug grin started to form across Seifer's face, another smart-ass remark formed in his head.

"_This is great, now I have a chicken-wuss and a guy who had just reached puberty in my squad…"_

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Balamb was within sight after an hour drive, a small harbour town by the coast. It was a quaint little town, with most of the residents there working as traders or fishermen, leaving the elders, and kids around. They drove straight to the sock as designed, where the vessels were awaiting their final occupants.

"Hurry up, you're the last team."

The SeeDs stationed there urged them on, and Squad B immediately compiled to the orders, moving into the vessels and took off.

A female SeeD entered the vessel after them, a military strategist was to brief every squad about the mission before entering the battlefield. Quistis was the first to greet her, and they seemed to have been working together for a long time.

"Hi Quistis."

"Hi Xu, nice to see you again. These are the members of Squad B."

Quistis saluted to her higher commanding officer, followed by the rest of the squad. Xu had a disapproving look when she noticed one of the cadets didn't follow the protocol and salute her, the frown on her face deepened when she realized whom that cadet was.

"Seifer, how many times it had been now?"

"Oh, I just love these exams…"

Xu just ignored him, Seifer had quite a reputation of being a rebel, and she had no time to waste with him. She moved to the large monitor at the other end of the vessel, while ordering rest of them to be seated.

"I'll explain the situation and brief about this mission, please be seated."

"Our client for this mission is Dollet Dukedom Parliament. They made a request for SeeD 18 hours ago. Dollet was under attack by Galbadia army for the last 72 hours. 49 hours into the battle, the Dollet army abandoned their position in the city and retreated to the mountains, reorganizing their scattered army after being ambushed without any warning. That is their current status."

"Now into the mission objectives. According to Intel reports, the G-army are moping the rest of the D-army in the mountain regions, trying to break their force before they manage to regroup. We will be landing at Lapin Beach, filed exam participants are required to eliminate the G-army stationed in the city and liberate it A.S.A.P. The SeeDs will intercept the G-army in the mountains to prevent them making their way back into the city."

"So what do we have to do?" Seifer was not one into briefings, to him all this crap were useless, typical of simple-minded male who only know how to use brute force.

"You're to eliminate all the G-army in the city."

"Sounds important…" Zell was fully immersed in Xu's briefing.

"Sound's boring. So what you're really saying is that we do all the dirty, little works for Garden…"

Xu quickly changed the subject, because she too knew that Seifer was right, no matter know wrong he is as a person.

"This hardly need to be said but, withdraw orders takes priority, don't forget it. We should disembark soon, get ready." Xu left shortly after the briefing ended.

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The sun was at the brink of horizon, nightfall looming into the sky with every seconds passed. The moon was already high up in the sky, a perfect reflection forming in the turquoise waters. The image shattered to pieces as a vessel cut through it with mind-numbing speed, only to be formed back when the waters was still again.

Squall was upon the deck, trying to focus his mind while examining the maps of their battlefield. The salty sea breeze had a kind of soothing effect to him, reminded him the peace and quiet in his hometown, where he had spent a lot of time near the sea. He took out a transparent and put it upon the map on his left hand, where it stated the coordinates of their landing spot.

A huge explosion on the shore ahead caught his attention, the SeeDs had already land first to provide cover to them. He retreated back into the vessel, and soon they crashed upon the Lapin Beach. The hatch opened and Quistis gave her orders to her squad.

"You're to secure Central Square. Follow your squad leader's orders."

Seifer did final checking on his junctions and equipment, then with a serious tone that seemed so out of his character, he ordered.

"Move out, Squad B.

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There wasn't much resistance awaiting them along their way to Central Square, only a few guards stationed here and there. Those guards posed no threats with Seifer in the team, he easily knocked out the enemies one by one while Squall and Zell draw magic to better their junctions. They reached their designed area within fifteen minutes, with Seifer being all hyped up.

"Hey you Galbadian cowards, come out and show your faces, don't leave me hanging here." He swipes his gunblade around, eager to get into another battle, it had been a long time since he got so excited.

"What an idiot…" Zell mumbled as he tried to catch up with his squad leader.

"I want you both to scout the area for enemies." With that Squall and Zell start to scout for more G-armies.

They eventually found a spy hiding behind a car wreck, and disposing him quickly before information about reinforcements from Balamb Garden is released to their enemy.

"That's all for now. We're on standby till more orders come. How boring…"

-----------------

It felt like eternities had passed, but nothing had happened, not even a withdrawing order. Seifer was almost bored out of his mind, quickly losing his patients with all the adrenaline pumping inside him, screaming for him for release.

The bell on the chapel rang, some Dollet residence in hiding tried to gather the remaining townsfolk that have fled when they were ambushed, now that the SeeDs and the cadets had secured the Central Square. Seifer was leaning against the wall with Hyperion on his shoulders, while Zell was pacing around, also hoping for some action. Squall was deep in thoughts, trying to figure out why the G-army attacked the small town, when some growling voice disrupted him.

"That's it, I can't take it anymore! What is this, some kind of dog training?"

Seifer was fuming, swinging his Hyperion around like a mad man. No one dared to talk to him, afraid that they would be chopped into minced meat. Squall heard footsteps approaching, and he signaled the other two to lay low. A group of G-army seemed to be retreating back to the mountains, towards a huge building upon the cliffs.

"It's the enemy, where are they going?" Zell asked out as discreet as possible after they left.

"Our next destination." Seifer pointed Hyperion towards the facility, his face lightened up, sensing more actions to come.

"But that's against orders!" Zell said dumbfounded by Seifer's decision.

"Weren't you saying how bored you are?

"Squall!" Zell trying to get support from his silent companion to help him out.

"I'll stand by the leader's decisions." Squall said that with his eyesight locked onto the path those G-soldiers took, trying to watch out for anymore if they come.

"Leader's decisions? You want to wreck some havoc too, don't you?" Seifer punched him lightly, only to be shoved away by Squall.

"It's a good opportunity to test out my training. Thanks to you, I feel like I can take on anyone, even if they fight dirty, like you."

"You'll thank me when the time comes."

"What the hell…" Zell grumbled as things started to look bad, he really hate to go against orders, this could cost him his SeeD career.

"Look, this ain't an ordinary battle. It's an exam, an important one too. We have to sick to orders."

"Fine then, you stay. I don't need any boy scouts." Seifer said that to invoke Zell, he knew it's the only way to get him to go. He really disliked Zell a lot, but despite that, he still needed Zell at combat, as the teaching back at Garden taught him so. Three person team works the best during a battle.

"Zell, don't take him seriously." Squall doesn't want any more trouble to worry about. " Seifer, if you gonna go then we have to hurry, we have not much time left."

"The enemy was headed to the facility. We, Squad B are to secure the summit. Move out." With that order they both rushed towards the facility, along with a reluctant Zell following them from behind.

-----------------

Along the staircases, lots of injured D-army was lying down, the G-army had manage to break their final defenses along the mountain path. Seifer leading his team was running up the path, when they almost stepped over a Dollet soldier crawling out from a boulder in front of them.

The Dollet soldier were panicked when he was almost stopped over by someone, quickly raised up his hands to shield himself.

"Who… who are you?"

"Don't worry. We're SeeD candidates dispatched by Balamb Garden. Can you tell us what's going on?"

The fear in his eyes was gone, replaced by relief once Squall had explained themselves.

"The G-army had taken control of the Communication Tower. It had been a nesting ground for monsters since it had not been used years ago. If you're going up there, be care…"

The poor soldier didn't manage to finish his sentence, as he was being dragged into the grasp of a fierce looking Anacondaur. Squall jumped down and stuck it at the abdominal section, causing it to wheezed in pain and loosen its grip on the soldier, who ran for his life. The creature was tougher than the usual creeps they encountered back in Balamb, Zell and Seifer jumped into the battle to assist Squall.

Zell then threw a few punches as the Anacondaur, trying to distract it from attacking Squall. The beast was agitated, and its massive tail hit Zell, knocking him off his feet. Then Anacondaur sprayed out Dark Mist on Seifer. He managed to dodge the full blow of the attack, which saved him from being blinded by it but still his HP went down by a hundred. He make used of his low HP, concentrated on his pain and anger upon his final attack, and unleashed Fire Cross, taking care of the Anacondour for good.

"More monsters, that sucks." Zell was not very fond of the tougher creature around here, after the battle he found out that he got struck and a few bruises forming on his arms.

"That's more fun to us. Come on, let's go." Seifer's said curtly, then leaving the team, pushing on their way to the facility.

"More fun? Pu-lease…" Zell rolled his eyes, Squall and him following their leader's trail.

They continued their way to Communication Tower, but stopped when they overheard the G-soldiers guarding the tower. They lay down and observed the guards from a cliff, and realized that they were trying to repair the facility. Soon the guards all entered the building, leaving the front door unguarded.

"This must be your first battle. Are you scared?" Seifer turned to Squall asked

"I don't know. I try not to think about it." His gaze still upon the massive tower in front, while observing it for any more guards around.

"I don't fear battles. The way I look at it, as long as you make it out alive, you're one step closer to your dreams."

"Your dreams?" Squall was a bit taken aback, never thought Seifer would in a million years actually want to 'talk' to him.

"Yeah, you have one don't you?"

"I'm gonna pass on this subject." Squall turned away uninterested.

"Yo, let me in on this too." Zell interrupted.

"Mind your own business."

"Frickin' hell." Zell wanted to pummel Seifer into nothingness so much he tried to punch him in the face, but Seifer had no problem avoiding each fist, he was much to fast for Zell.

"What's the matter Zell, swatting flies?" He no longer conceal his laughter, scorning Zell in humiliation.

"Damn you." Zell punched the ground in frustration, while Seifer went ahead to the facility, his curiosity driving him to investigate what's going on.

"There you are."

Both cadets were startled by the energetic voice, thinking it was from the enemy. But they only saw a petite looking brunette in a cadet suit just like theirs, panting as if she had ran a marathon. She tried to walk down the rocky steps, but lost her balance on a loose rock and went tumbling down the whole way. She winced a bit at the bruises formed on her smooth legs, but then quickly hide it and smiled sheepishly at the other two males and wink at them.

"Are you Squad B?" Squall nodded at her, something about her reminded him of someone, but he can't place it.

"Hey, you're the guy that showed me around. Thanks, I don't get so lost anymore." She smiled gratefully towards Squall, that kind of smile that resembles a little child when she got an ice cream from her mother. It seemed so out of place in this place, in the midst of a heated battlefield.

"I'm a messenger. My name is Selphie from Squad A. Your squad leader is Seifer right? Where is he?"

Squall pointed down the cliff they were on, where Seifer was running towards the entrance, then turned back to his comrades.

"One of these days I'm gonna tall ya about my ROMANTIC dream!" With that he turned away and headed into the facility, leaving the rest of the team again.

"Oh boy, sure is tough. Wait up Seifer!" Selphie jumped from the cliff, in hope to catch up in time. Squall and Zell went to check whether she was okay, it was a very high cliff after all. She didn't look hurt, hadn't even slowed down her pace.

Both of them finally rounded the cliff and rejoined with Selphie, who junctioned herself before heading towards the facility. They were at the entrance, when the metal door slided open, showing Seifer chasing out the guards on the lower levels.

"Cowards." He turned back inside, leaving a yelling Selphie behind him.

"Quick, he's getting away."

-----------------

It was dark inside, with only some electronic devices that radiate off lights illuminating the place. In front of them an elevator just came down from the upper floor, and they immediately went up, in hope of catching Seifer in time.

They were greeted by the sight of Dollet, high above the Communication Tower. The sun was setting, the sky was burning in a red orange hue. They would've been fascinated by the sight, if they weren't on a field exam right now. Seifer was no where in sight, but a Galbadian soldier was there. This one wore a red outfit, probably of higher ranking, and was totally oblivious to the three of them, trying to fix something on that huge switchboard in front of him.

"There, it's complete!"

The soldier finally stop what he was doing, and all around them the whole facility seemed to have a life of his own, shaking violently as if someone trying to yawn the sleep away. A wrench on the floor to fall through a hole, diving far far down, till it hit the lower floors with a 'clink' sound.

The rest of the buildings came to life, sound of turbines and engines humming. A cannon shaped machinery shot out from a long barrel-like structure behind Squall, who turned around to see what was going on. It spread out like the claws of a dragon, and then plates are was formed in between, making a large disc. The long abandoned Communication Tower got its satellite disc up and running again, after all these long years.

Squall finally shook out of his trance, then proceeded to question the soldier, to much that he did not understand.

"What are you doing here?"

"Like-wise mister, what are you doing here? What happened to the guards at the lower levels? Doesn't matter now. Wedge, take care of these twerps."

The military officer seemed to be talking to no one, Squall cocking an eyebrow, he thought that soldier had gone mad or something. When the officer realized he was alone and outnumbered, he tried to make a mad dash for the elevator, but his escaped cut short by none other than, Seifer Almasy.

Seeing no choice but to fight, he took the initiative and pummeled Selphie, who seemed to be the weakest in the group. Little did he know that she was highly capable of self-defending, and got hit in the head instead by a nunchunku.

"Major Biggs, why are the enemies here?" Another soldier appeared, but this one was like the others, wearing a blue uniform.

"Where had you been Wedge? No pay for you this month!" The previous officer yelled in frustration, having been hit by a little girl, which was pretty humiliating.

"Should have stayed home…"

It wasn't soon the soldiers were injured badly, they're facing cadets from Balamb after all. Suddenly a gust of wind blew them away, a large winged monster appeared out of nowhere. It had sinister looking claws and a huge sting, the three cadets backed a bit as its horrid appearance shaken them a little. Selphie immediately put a Scan spell on the creature, while the other two trying to distract it.

"Guys, it had low HP and defense, just hit it with physical attacks. Both Squall and Zell were glad to hear that piece of news, they both taking turn to kill the monster's HP blows by blows. The creature was quick at retaliating, bringing down its claws, pushing both fighters' HP to critical level. But they had Selphie to act as a healer and magic user, and it didn't stand a chance against them. She took the chance to draw Siren, the Song of the Sea, and some hefty amount of useful magic before it fell dead, turning into pyreflies that faded away.

-----------------

As the battle ended, the elevator they were in came up again, this time with Seifer along.

"You are Squad B leader, Seifer right?" After receiving a nod, she continued, "I have new orders."

"SeeD members and candidates are to withdraw at 1900 hours. Assemble at shore."

A confused look passed over her fellow comrades, Seifer not containing his doubts inside. "A withdrawal order? But there are still enemies here."

Selphie just shrugged, not knowing the true intentions of their higher commanding officers too. "I know, but I'm just a messenger."

"An order of withdrawal takes priority. I don't want to miss the vessel." Squall piped, bringing his rebellious squad leader to realization.

"1900 hours, that's only 30 minutes to get to the shore. Better run!" Seifer took the elevator alone, leaving the other three fuming behind.

"Who the hell does he think he is?" Zell gritted his teeth, his shoes tapping irritability.

Upon hearing that, Squall glanced over his shoulder, his gaze pointed toward him. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

-----------------

The trio finally made out of the building, and they were running the way they came in, hoping they were not too late. A loud thud caught them all dead in their tracks, as a great shadow was cast over them, a huge mechanical robot hurling down from the top of the tower.

The ground beneath cracks as the heavy robot landed on it, almost squashing Squall and his teammates. The robot seemed to be totally undamaged from its high altitude fall, and despite its big bulk, attacked ferociously.

Taking the spare moment to cast Scan, Selphie noted its battle statistics.

"X-ATM08… Weak against Thunder, WHAT? 5000 HP?"

Selphie's face was drained of colours. At their level, it was almost impossible to deal such high damage within the limited time they had. Zell had to summon Quezacotl, the Thunder Bird while Selphie cure his wounds to keep him conscious. After a few blasts from the GF, the robot finally gave in, as it started to repair itself, giving them the time they needed to run from it.

Time was ticking fast, they were running as fast as their sore-laden leg would bring them. Far behind them they can hear the thunderous sounds as the huge spider-like robot continue to hunt them down. Finally after what seemed like an aeon had passed, they reached the Town Central and headed down towards their salvation.

As they rounded a corner, out of nowhere X-ATM08 crushed through a block of stores, appearing just a few feets behind them. Zell and Selphie who were up ahead almost reached the vessel, but Squall lost his footings as he reached shore, and fell flat on his face into the sand.

'Spidy' gained on him soon, as he ran the final hundred yards. When 'Spidy' raised up its claws and ready to gave their vessel the final strike, Squall leaped and hurled himself towards it, a string of gunshots was heard echoing loudly.

Quistis was on the deck, embedding rounds after rounds of bullets into the machine with the machine gun on deck, until in exploded into pieces of junks. Squall was safely on board, and they now headed back to the town…


End file.
